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Guru Rinpoche, or Padmasambhava, was the great Indian tantric master who brought Buddhism to Tibet and is revered as a second Buddha. This book presents four very different accounts of his life story: two Buddhist, one according to the pre-Buddhist Bon religion, and one based on Indian and early Tibetan historical documents. The two Tibetan Buddhist works are a Biography of Guru Rinpoche by Jamgon Kongtrul, and the Immaculate White Lotus by Dorje Tso. Then follows an Indian version of his life story by Taranata, a Bonpo version by Jamyang Kyentse Wongpo, and Supplications to Guru Rinpoche in Seven Chapters, as well as visualizations written to accompany these supplications by Jamgon Kongtrul.

"Included is a long awaited translation of one of the best-loved meditations and cycle of prayers to Guru Padmasambhava...an important contribution to our knowledge of the founder of Tibetan Buddhism." Matthieu Ricard.

"The presence of Guru Rinpoche, a figure so important to Tibetan Buddhists that he is simply called "the Precious Master", can be felt still in each of the four liberating stories translated here. Read side-by-side, they reveal an even wider picture, of how history and culture interact with the inner spirituality that is beyond time and place." Sarah Harding